The treatment of hypertrophic chronic rhinitis (chronic blocked nose) generally requires major surgery in the form of turbinectomy under general anesthetic, and thus hospitalization, with the risks of hemorrhage and of postoperative pain.
For several years now, outpatient treatment has been available by means of laser surgery using nasal probes that include optical fibers curved to fit the shape of the nostril, and that make use either of a neodymium laser (Nd: YAG) which requires several visits repeated at intervals of several weeks because of the risks associated with using powers that are too high, or else of CO.sub.2 lasers which are less risky since tissue absorption is more superficial, but which are difficult to use in this application because of technical obstacles. The laser radiation delivered by carbon dioxide lasers has a wavelength of 10.6 microns, and it is difficult to transmit power at that wavelength by means of optical fiber. In particular, one such optical fiber, e.g. that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,863, issued Jun. 5, 1990 (Rauiot University--Tel Aviv), suffers from poor suitability for making nasal probes given that its diameter, which is of millimeter order, is too small, and above all because even when the working power of the laser is limited, the internal plastics material fiber that conveys the radiation and that is surrounded by a metal sheath can be used for little more than about ten times at best.
However, the article by Dr. Michael Sladkine, published on page 6 of the journal "Medical Laser Report" of June 1994 shows that following treatment performed by Dr. Joseph Krespi at Saint Luke's Hospital, New York, and by Dr. Yves-Victor Kamami (the inventor of the handpiece constituting the subject matter of the present patent application), the technique of performing surgery with a CO.sub.2 laser is attractive, particularly because of short patient recovery time, making it possible to avoid the major drawbacks of pain and bleeding.